July 10 (Reuters) - Apple on Friday filed a lawsuit

against OpenAI and two former employees, alleging

misappropriation of the iPhone maker's trade secrets to benefit

the ChatGPT-owner's foray into consumer hardware.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the

Northern District of California, alleges a coordinated effort to

steal Apple's ( AAPL ) confidential information, including product

designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies.

The lawsuit is against former senior system electrical

engineer of Apple Chang Liu and former vice president of product

design for iPhone and Apple Watch Tang Yew Tan, as well as

OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC and io Products.

It dramatically escalates tension between Apple and the

ChatGPT maker that has been simmering for months. OpenAI did not

immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Apple alleged that Liu had failed to return a company-issued

work laptop and later used an authentication bug to access

Apple's ( AAPL ) internal network, downloading "dozens of Apple's ( AAPL )

confidential hardware-related files."

The company also claimed that Tan "has been methodically

using Apple's ( AAPL ) confidential information to benefit OpenAI" by

emailing himself information about Apple suppliers and internal

industry summaries before his departure.

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters in May that

OpenAI was exploring legal options against Apple, including

notifying the technology giant of a breach of contract but

potentially not filing a full lawsuit.

The tensions between the two tech companies have strained

their relationship and shown how the race to develop AI products

has intensified competition for talent and proprietary

technology.

In 2024, Apple announced integration of its "Apple

Intelligence" technology across its apps including Siri and

brought OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to its devices.

Their partnership allows users to access ChatGPT results

through Siri, while iPhone users can also sign up for ChatGPT

memberships directly from the iOS settings menu.

OpenAI bought hardware startup io Products, founded by

former Apple designer Jony Ive, last year in a $6.5 billion

deal, underscoring its push to move beyond software into

consumer hardware. Ive is not named in the lawsuit.

Last month, Apple rolled out a long-delayed overhaul of

Siri. The update comes two years after Apple first promised

major upgrades that were repeatedly delayed.